Archaeologists find skulls on route of new road

[Viggen]

The skulls of scores of young men have been found in a burial pit on the route of a new road in Dorset. So far 45 skulls, believed to be almost 2,000 years old, have been found, and more may be found as the pit is emptied. Archaeologists have called the discovery extraordinary, saying it could be evidence of a disaster, a mass execution, a battle or possibly an epidemic. The bones recovered so far are still being examined but most appear to be of young men, and are believed to date back to the late iron age or early Roman period. They may be evidence of a fatal encounter between the invaders and the local population, buried at a site which had ritual significance for thousands of years before they died...

 

...full article at the Guardian

[sylla]

The skulls of scores of young men have been found in a burial pit on the route of a new road in Dorset. So far 45 skulls, believed to be almost 2,000 years old, have been found, and more may be found as the pit is emptied. Archaeologists have called the discovery extraordinary, saying it could be evidence of a disaster, a mass execution, a battle or possibly an epidemic. The bones recovered so far are still being examined but most appear to be of young men, and are believed to date back to the late iron age or early Roman period. They may be evidence of a fatal encounter between the invaders and the local population, buried at a site which had ritual significance for thousands of years before they died...

 

...full article at the Guardian

This fascinating issue seems to be the same one pointed by Ludovicus.

[Aurelia]

Looks like mass execution to me (be it sacrificial or otherwise)...

[Melvadius]

Following further analysis it has been discovered that the Roman/ Iron Age pottery found with the graves had been re-deposited following later burial of the bodies.

 

The remains (pending further analysis) have now been identified as probably either Saxon or Viking remains probably dating to between AD 890 and AD 1034

 

c/f message thread in 'Archaeological News: The World' section at:

 

http://www.unrv.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=10119